


Everything's Fine

by orphan_account



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Getting Back Together, Kidfic, M/M, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, i promise this has a happy ending, izumi - Freeform, minor jetko, minor kataang and mailee, sokka is a professor, theyre all in their thirties, zuko is a high school drama teacher
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:54:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26247499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Post divorce Sokka learns the bridge between him and his kids relationship is Zuko and the bridge between Zuko and him are themselves.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 25
Kudos: 77





	Everything's Fine

Sokka usually doesn’t wake up this early. 

He gets up every morning at seven on the nose, he brushes his teeth, takes a shower, grabs the nearest item of food for breakfast and runs to the lecture hall with his messy satchel of the next lesson’s notes in hand.

He only wakes up this early-five in the _goddamn_ morning early-when Zuko is calling him. He doesn’t even need to look at his phone to know who’s making his phone screech with obnoxious stock music at this hour. He really should change his ringtone to something a lot more pleasant because times like this, he wants to drop his phone in the garbage disposal. He grabs his phone, looking at the contact photo he has for Zuko to confirm his suspicions. It was a picture Sokka had taken on one of the first of their many beach trips. The sun set in the picture paints the sky and Zuko’s face, turning his pale skin shades of pinks and oranges. He’s smiling in that picture, the soft one he gets sometimes that means he’s not showing it, but he’s happier than he thinks he’ll ever be. _That’s rare these days_ he thinks casually with a pang in the chest when he answers his phone.

“Zuko, it’s-” he isn’t even able to get out an exhausted sounding complaint before Zuko’s voice cuts in.

“Yes, I am aware of how early it is.” Zuko says in the same cold, sharp voice he has been giving him for the past three years. Zuko wakes up earlier than anyone he’s ever met. He used to have this joke about “rising with the sun”, it was cute when they were together. Now it’s not even a joke they share. Especially when he’s calling his ex-husband at the asscrack of dawn. “I’m calling to ask you to pick up the kids from school today.” Sokka should be used to the curtness by now but there’s still a sinking feeling in his chest every time. There was a time that he wasn’t like this-or at least there was a time where he was but Sokka had the ability to change it. Now, all he does is cause it. Even though him and Zuko aren’t close to even being friends anymore, he wishes they were at any point better than...whatever this is.

“Are you asking or telling me?” he says with a hint of mirth in his voice. Zuko doesn’t laugh and Sokka’s pretty sure he’s not even smiling. There’s an awkward pause before an answer. He prays that Zuko finally speaks and says at least something to break the silence. Even if it isn’t worth saying. Even if it hurts. Instead, he gets a sigh. He’s obviously been spending way too much time with Mai.

“Haru can’t pick up the kids today. He has an interview or something I forget. And Mai is visiting Azula today. Rehearsal is going super long for my students today and I don’t have anyone else...Sokka can you _please_ pick them up?” Sokka’s eyebrows raised at the word ‘please’.

“Of course. I would’ve said yes anyways, they’re my kids too. I don’t have to be a last resort, y’know.”

“Sure.” The line goes dead. Okay ouch. Not even a ‘thank you’ or ‘I owe you one’ or even a ‘bye’. Sokka should expect this by now, but he apparently hasn’t adjusted to Zuko’s cold shoulder.

The call leaves him wide awake without any chance of getting back those two hours of sleep he has left. The stillness of his apartment is deafening. He has to get up and do something. Something to distract from the heavy feeling in his head and his chest. Maybe he’ll make breakfast for once.

His long legs move to the edge of his twin bed instinctively, practically begging him to get up and stretch. Along with getting a new ringtone, he adds getting a bigger bed to the mental checklist of things to do. Three years is way too long to have a twin bed for someone with Sokka’s frame. He gets up with a groan, moving from his dark bedroom to the mess that is his kitchen. Pots and pans left uncleaned for what seems like weeks on end are scattered across his counter. There was a time where he would clean it right away, but that was mostly because Zuko would make him. Zuko would ask him to clean the dishes and apparently since it’s been Sokka’s job to make Zuko’s life more difficult, he would complain.

_‘Zuko, darling, I don’t see why, after a long day of work and cooking for the love of my life, which is you, I, your very loving husband in case you forgot-has to clean the dishes.’_

_‘You cause the mess you clean it up, that’s why.’_

_‘Okay but if my said loving husband, the one I love, ate my cooking, made with love, isn’t he, my loving husband, part of the mess.’_

_‘No.’_

There would be a lot of nagging and laughing in between. Sokka would grab Zuko by the waist, declaring he wouldn’t let go of him until he decided he loved Sokka enough to clean the dishes for him. This debacle usually ended with Zuko offering to clean the dishes the next time and usually a complimentary blowjob. Sokka would clean every pot and pan till he could see his reflection of himself and his ancestors. Now, well, now he only forces himself to clean when he knows Zuko will be in his apartment. Which is close to never. God, he’s a mess.

Pulling out the eggs from his fridge, praying that they haven’t gone bad, he wonders how he got here. He knows actually. He knows exactly how he got here. Too many nights coming home not knowing the hour, too many anniversaries and birthdays forgotten, too many words left unsaid, and too many words he wishes he could take back, that both of them wish they could take back. He would be lying if he thought there was some curse on him that ruined his family. Curses weren’t fully off the table though, it’s possible, but unlikely.

He cracks an egg into a bowl he isn’t necessarily sure is clean or not and whispers a small ‘yes’ in victory to see that it hasn’t gone bad. He thinks it’s a sign from the universe. Maybe today’s going to be a good day. After all, he gets to see his kids today.

His two beautiful, wonderfully hilarious, amazingly smart children who he unfortunately only gets to see once a week if he’s lucky. He smiles softly while whisking the eggs, thinking about the last time he saw them. How Li, his firstborn, showed him every single gold sticker he got in class that week and continued to explain in full detail how he got each star. Of course Sokka sat there listening intently to every word even when the story didn’t make sense or was...slightly exaggerated to say the least.

“And then-and then I climbed the tree and-and fought off the forest monsters to get the ball so we could all play.” Li had said sitting in Sokka’s lap, eyes big and blue, like his own. Li mostly looked like his surrogate, a heart shaped smile and face with darker skin than Sokka’s, but he has his eyes. They’re full of life and personality. Anybody could tell what part of his story Li was on by looking at the way his eyes move. Sokka nodded along to his story. It wasn’t even faux interest, he was very enamored, if nothing else but entertained with his seven year old’s story. The twists, the turns, the drama of it all, he could’ve sat there for hours. He did actually. It was riveting.

Then there was Izumi, strong, smart, sweet Izumi. She spent the day playing with her blocks, asking for Sokka to join her as she built. She was only four but her personality could have been shown with the way she strategically put one block on the other. Every time Sokka would try to pitch in with the blocks to help the wall get a little taller, she would stop him.

“No.” she had said firmly, as if he would destroy the wall she had worked so hard for if he put the block a little to the left.

“Petal, you asked me to help you. Daddy’s just trying to help.” He said gently, a small fond smile on his face. Her face scrunched up at that, obviously not knowing how to respond and he couldn’t help but laugh. He can never decide who she’s more like. Even though she’s the spitting image of Zuko, all black hair and amber eyes, she has Sokka’s strategic brain. She has Zuko’s stubbornness though, that’s for sure. She reached over, her small hand slowly grabbing the block out of Sokka’s big ones.

“It’ll go right here.” her previously scrunched up face had turned into a triumphant smile as she reached the very top of the block wall she was building, moving the block a bit more to the right than Sokka had wanted it to go. He has to admit, her idea was better. His little girl was showing off. She’s a future architect in the making, or if he’s lucky, an engineer.

“That looks amazing. Nice and strong. Nobody can get through those walls. Not even me, which is saying something.” Sokka dramatically flashed his arms, to emphasize his point. Izumi laughed brightly at her father’s antics. It's something she was very used to, but something Sokka feels, she should be able to see more.

Fuck, he misses his kids.

He doesn’t know how long he’s been stirring his eggs but it’s been long enough for him to know he’s been doing it for way too long. He’s not even hungry anymore.

He misses his kids the second they leave his place. He knows it sounds cliche but the second they get into Zuko’s car, a part of him leaves with it. What hurts even more than his kids leaving, which he never thought was humanly possible, was how Zuko doesn’t get out of the car to greet him. A guy would think after all the ash of the arson they committed on their relationship settled, a simple smile and wave would have emerged, but the bitterness from the first time they had to do this still lingers.

Sokka sighs, moving his fingers through the tangles of his hair. He’s been thinking for too long. He needs to get ready. He’s got tons of disinterested STEM majors to teach.

His day goes as usual from there. He does what he does best: teach. Or at least he tries. His first class, a long and boring organic chemistry lecture, always takes a bit of his soul away. He tries to be entertaining, cracking a few jokes only earning a few chuckles from some kiss ass kids, but there’s genuinely no way he can keep the attention of students for two and a half hours when he can’t even keep his own interest. He knew the risks of becoming a professor. Trying to keep the energy high for hundreds of kids who just want to cry and go back to their dorm and smoke is hard. He understands. He was one of those kids. _Zuko_ was one of those kids. They'd be sitting in Sokka’s apartment, smoking, assignments untouched, talking shit about their professors, who in retrospect, weren’t that bad.

_‘I don’t even understand why we have to write five thousand words-I don’t even know what that looks like.'_

_‘Sokka you’re packing the bowl too much.’_

_‘I mean does he expect me to dedicate all of my time to his class?’_

_‘You’re getting it on the floor.’_

Now Sokka is one of those professors, at least for this class. An amazing turn of events.

He meets up with Toph for lunch. It’s an impromptu decision, but he feels like he needs to talk to someone about his conversation with Zuko. Even though Sokka is well into his thirties and has been friends with Toph half of his life, he always gets a little nervous before venting to her. She’s never one to sugar coat, but she's better than talking to Aang and Katara, who never want to get in the middle of it. Ever.

“I mean-he acts like we don’t have the same kids!” Sokka says in the middle of his very long ramble. They’re sitting in the middle of a cafe right off campus. Rainbow flags hang from the ceiling and the chairs are painted all types of fun colors and characters. Sokka’s currently sitting on one with a penguin painted on it. Toph’s sitting in one that says ‘Fuck Cops’ on it, in her police uniform. Fitting.

“You would think after all this time, Sparky would be a little less wound up about the whole...divorce thing.” Toph says, stabbing her fork into her pasta salad. “I mean I get it you’re a pain in the ass-”

“Hey-”

“But you’re not a monster.” Sokka sighs. He knows Zuko isn’t trying to make him the bad guy. He’s still hurt and mad. At Sokka and at himself, but it’s getting old. Incredibly old.

“I’m not mad at him really, I don’t think I am.” he starts “I think I’m just tired of him acting like he hates me. I mean, I don’t want our kids thinking we’re worst enemies. I don’t want them to-” he cuts himself off.

“To what?”

“Nothing.”

“You don’t want them to turn out like Zuko and his crazy sister.” Toph says, deadpan as ever. She can never leave things if they're hanging in the air. It's something Sokka loves about her, not in this moment though.

“It’s not...that.” he says lamely.

“Well it sure sounds like it.”

“I just want what’s best for my kids and their parents barely being on speaking terms isn’t the best for them.” he says, a bit more confidently. He really does want the best for his kids. He knows what it’s like to only grow up with one parent and Zuko knows what it’s like to grow up with terrible parents. They both have scars, physical and mental, that they’re still working on. He would never want the same for Li and Izumi. Being caught up in their own emotions is selfish, but he does understand it’s hard to move on. “I just feel so defeated y’know. I feel like every time I try to be friends or even just talk to him he shuts me down and-” he’s cut off by the beeping coming from the side of Toph’s uniform.

“Snoozles, I would love to keep hearing about the ever going drama going on with you and my favorite drama queen, but I got to run.” she stands up from her chair and grabs her walking stick. Before she leaves, she rests a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Take it easy, okay? I know it’s rough but Sparky needs a lot more than just a smiley face emoji and a bad joke to make him realize you’re not trying to block him from your life the way he's trying to block you out.” He sighs, she’s right.

“Thank you. I’ll try.” he says. “See you next week for lunch?”

“I would if I could.”

“Are you busy?”

“No, just blind.” she says before walking out the door. He should’ve seen that coming.

It’s during his physics lecture, the one he actually likes, when he gets a text from Zuko, messing up his teaching flow. His students look at him a little weird when his voice cracks after noticing the notification. He’s had more embarrassing teacher moments, still, very embarrassing. Crawling into a hole would be great in that moment. You’re doing great Sokka.

**Zuko:** _I packed animal crackers and apple slices for the kids. You’re going to have to do dinner if I’m not there on time. No fast food. Make sure it has at least one vegetable._

Sokka can’t help but smile at that. He’s almost as bad as Katara. He tells his students for the last fifteen minutes to work on their upcoming project as he sits back down at his desk. He quickly texts Zuko back.

 **Sokka:** _technically french fries are a vegetable ;)._

He doesn’t know why he adds a winky face. Maybe it lets Zuko know he’s joking. He’s pretty sure the reason. Zuko texts him back a lot faster than he expects and if Sokka was trying to show Zuko that he was joking, he did a bad job.

 **Zuko:** _Istg Sokka. They don’t need grease in their lives. No fast food. Li’s first soccer game on Saturday and I can’t have him being sluggish._

Good to know Zuko’s a soccer mom at heart. Also-

 **Sokka:** _why didn’t you tell me Li had a game?_

 **Zuko:** _I’m telling you now._

There’s been a lot of times where Sokka wanted to throw his phone at a wall, but this one might take the cake.

 **Sokka:** _Zuko._

 **Sokka:** _Father of my children_

 **Sokka:** _*of our children_

 **Sokka:** _you can not be serious right now._

Sokka looks up from his phone for a second to see his students staring down at him from their seats, waiting as patiently as they can for him to dismiss them. He coughs awkwardly before telling them to leave and that their assignment is due next Monday. They rush out the lecture hall like their life depended on it. Some of them leave their large iced coffee plastic cups on the desks. He’ll have to talk to them about that the next time he sees them.

Sokka’s at his desk feeling rather...angry? Tired? Defeated? Empty? Maybe all of the above. He can not believe Zuko. Mr. "My Dad Never Went To Any of My Plays" isn't telling Sokka about his kid's game.

 **Zuko:** It just didn’t cross my mind.

Sokka feels like he’s about to throw up. He knows it’s just a soccer game, but it’s his _kid’s_ soccer game. His kid’s first soccer game. How did that not cross Zuko’s mind to tell him. It’s almost like he’s trying to forget he’s a person. Sokka knows he’s not perfect, but he knows he’s not a bad father. What makes Zuko think he can just not tell him about certain milestones. He doesn’t feel like arguing so he texts back a quick “whatever” before going to his car so he can pick up his kids.

When he gets to the school, he sees his two little ones up front outside the brass doors and can’t help the toothy grin that breaks out on his face, despite his bad mood. Li’s standing by his teacher and is looking everywhere but where Sokka is. He’s got his red backpack that’s way too big for him on, holding his lunch box in one hand and Izumi’s hand in the other. Izumi is looking down at the ground, obviously looking tired from her vigorous day of learning the primary colors.

“Li! Izumi!” he yells out from the window of his car as soon as he parks. Li finally looks over to his car and on brand, he yells back.

“Dad! Teacher look! My dad is here!” He is screaming at this point. Sokka should really tell him to be a bit more quiet but he can’t help the fondness that pours from his chest hearing his son sound so excited to see him.

“Yes, I see.” his teacher says soothingly, a tone that Zuko uses a lot with them when he wants them to calm down. It’s apparently effective with more than one adult because Li visibly calms down a bit. Only a bit, he’s still waving violently.

Sokka gets out of the car and does a light (a very light) jog up to his children. He engulfs them in a huge hug. Even with both of their arms, their arms can’t really wrap around him. Sometimes he forgets how small they really are. He lets go of the group hug so that he can take Izumi from Li, picking her up and letting her tired head rest on his shoulder. He takes Li’s free hand and puts it in his own.

“I’ll take them from here. Thank you.” he tells the teacher with a smile. Even in the short walk from the front of the school to the car, Li has a lot to say.

“I learned _a lot_ today. Teacher taught us about cubes and cones and spheres. And-and we read a book today! I had-um-I had to ask the teacher for help because I couldn’t read a word.”

“Oh really?” Sokka says, quirking an eyebrow,

“What was the word?”

“Ne-necessary.”

“Oh well that’s a very _necessary_ word to learn.”

“It is?”

Sokka shouldn’t expect a seven year old to get his dad jokes. Still, it hurts when it goes over his head.

Izumi is knocked out, Sokka tries to put her in the car seat without disrupting her sleep. She’s good for the most part although she grumbles a little when he puts on the seatbelt. Adorable. He goes to put Li in his carseat but sees the boy has already got himself in there.

“I learned how to put myself in the seat.” he says, already knowing Sokka’s looking.

“Well look at you, you’re practically a grown up. We’ll need to get you a job.”

“No!” Yeah, Sokka’s going to have to teach Li about volume control. “I want to be a kid forever!”

“I agree. You and Izumi need to stay kids forever. I don’t think my heart could take you guys being older, like what does that make me?” he says getting into the car finally, starting the engine.

“That would make you super super old-like grandpa.” Li adds. He loves having kids.

“That’s right. We don’t want to be old like grandpa.” He can’t wait to tell his dad about that. The drive is mostly peaceful. Izumi is miraculously still asleep. Learning about letters is very emotionally draining, he gets it. Sokka and Li are singing all the awful songs at the top of their lungs, it’s a miracle that his kid knows every shitty song on the radio. He would think Zuko would make him listen to his emo garbage. Or classical music. No in between. Everything’s fine until-

“Dad! Did you hear about my soccer game?” Sokka’s grip tightens on the wheel.

“Uh-yeah-yeah I did hear about it. It’s Saturday, right?”

“Yes! Everybody’s going to be there. You,” questionable “Papa, and Auntie Mai and Auntie Ty Lee,” a given “and Mr. Jet.” hold on.

“Mr. Jet?” Sokka asks, just to make sure, because he’s pretty sure he didn’t hear the name right. Not... _Jet_ Jet. It can’t be. There have to be different Jets, more than one. “Yeah, he told me he would come!” Li says enthusiastically, a little too enthusiastically for Sokka’s liking.

“Is Mr. Jet Papa’s friend?” Sokka knows he shouldn’t be interrogating a child about the possibility of his ex-husband’s dating life, but when his dating life a.) involves Zuko’s asshole ex-boyfriend from college b.) gets Zuko’s asshole ex-boyfriend from college invited to his son’s sports event and not him, he’s going to have issues.

“Can friends kiss?” Li asks a minute after thinking thoughtfully. Okay Sokka’s heard enough. “

I mean. I guess.” 

“Then yes.”

“Cool. I’ll see him there.” Sokka turns around to give him a quick smile to show he is totally fine with this idea before turning his eyes back to the road.

There’s no more talk of the game or Jet for the rest of the ride or when they finally get back to Sokka’s place. He sits the kids at the table and sits with them as they do their homework and eat their snacks.

Izumi munches on her apples as she scribbles across a page. He doesn’t really know if that’s the homework requirement but he’s sure she knows what she’s doing. He sits by Li and teaches him how to spell necessary.

“Why is there a c in there? C is used for words like cat!”

“I wish I could give you a reason.”

Izumi shows him her finished masterpiece. It’s a blob of colors with ‘Izumi’ written in the corner in all caps. It’s a masterpiece.

“That looks gorgeous petal.” he tells her, and a strange part of him really means it. “If I could put it on the fridge, I would, but you have to show your teacher.”

“Thank you. I try very hard.” she says. 

“I know.” he says, scooping her into his arms. “One day, you’ll be a famous painter and you’ll forget all about your old man.”

“No I won’t.”

“Yes you will. You'll see me in the audience of one of your art shows and you won't even recognize me.”

“No I _won’t!_ ” she says, actually sounding upset. He thinks he hears a sniffle and he immediately retracts the joke.

“Okay, you won’t. You won’t forget me at all. I will be on your mind at all times. Every painting you become famous for will be portraits of me.”

"And Papa.” she adds.

“Papa gets portraits too, yes-but not as many as me.” he adds, she laughs at that. Crisis averted.

Hours pass and the kids have moved to their corners of the Sokka's place. Sokka’s about to order food-Greek food and not fries-when Zuko calls.

“Hey what’s up?” he asks flatly.

“Hey, rehearsal had to end a bit early. I’ll be there in about an hour to pick up the kids, is everything going well? Have they finished their homework?”

“Yeah, they’re fine. They’re playing with their toys right now.”

“Okay good.” There’s an awkward pause, both of them are waiting for the other to get off the phone, but Sokka’s decided he doesn’t want to do that.

“So...Jet?” Sokka asks, he can hear Zuko choke on his own spit.

“Is there a reason you’re asking?” Zuko responds

“Maybe because there’s something really funny about the guy who cheated on you multiple times going to Li’s soccer game, but I didn’t find out about it until today.”

“Sokka-”

“Zuko.” Another awkward pause.

“He’s different now.”

“Sure he is.” Hiding sarcasm has never been one of Sokka's strong suits.

“He is. He’s really sweet and good with the kids and-I don’t have to explain myself to you!” Zuko's getting to the point Sokka's very familiar with. The "I don't want to talk about it so I'm going to be mean' point. Sokka shouldn’t keep poking the bear. But.

“You don’t need to tell me about your love life. I just-Zuko, when are you going to stop acting like I don’t exist? Because I do.” Sokka surprises himself with how sad he sounds, he’s not surprised at how sad he feels saying it though. Yet another awkward pause. God there needs to be some elevator music in between these. It’s getting old.

“I-have to go wrap things up with the crew. They’re waiting for me to dismiss them.” Zuko finally says. Give it to Sokka’s wonderful ex-husband to not want to have an emotionally open conversation.

“Alright. See you soon.”

Zuko doesn’t say bye when he hangs up. 

Sokka’s always baffled at the fact that Zuko Sozin, son of Ozai and Ursa Sozin, drives a minivan. His dirty piss colored 2007 Kia Sedona pulls up outside Sokka’s apartment and Sokka thinks if anybody had told Zuko in college he’d be driving one, Sokka thinks he would have had a literal heart attack.

Sokka takes the kids outside to the horrid creature that is Zuko’s car and the kids quickly get into the car after their goodbye hugs and kisses from Sokka. He sees Zuko through the tinted windows. He looks tired. He then looks distressed as Li yells.

“I forgot my lunchbox!” Li says getting out of the car even before he finishes the sentence. Wherever Li goes, Izumi follows, getting out the car with him.Zuko quickly undoes his seatbelt and gets out the car to grab his impulsive children.

“Li Iroh Sozin-Irniq!” Zuko yells from the other side of the car. Sokka sees him round the corner of his car and oh.

Oh.

Three years apparently doesn’t take away Sokka’s attraction for a person.

He’ll admit, Zuko looks a hot mess right now. He’s got eyebags on eyebags under his good eye, His hair’s up in a bun that’s holding itself together for it’s dear life with a few grays showing through the inky black. His glasses are folded on the neck of his shirt. The shirt, he might add, says _‘Don’t Make Me Use My Theater Voice’_ because of course it does. His lips are chapped and he’s looking a bit more on the skinny side than usual. Sokka's brain can’t comprehend that mess Zuko is in front of him. All it comprehends is that Zuko was in front of him. Just Zuko and Zuko is a beautiful person. He doesn’t even notice Zuko grabbing both of their children and throwing them over his shoulders even with their screaming complaints. He hopes this doesn’t disturb the neighbors.

“Uh...hey.” Sokka says. Zuko looks up at him and then looks back down to the ground.

“Hey.” he mumbles.

“So-”

“So-”

“Li needs his lunchbox.”

Zuko says “apparently” at the same time Li says “yes”

“I’ll go upstairs and get it.”

“Dad! Let me go with you! I put it in a super secret spot.” Li whisper-yells, still over Zuko’s shoulder.

"Li, I know that means it's under the couch." Sokka says. He's pretty sure he can hear Zuko snort at that. Maybe he's making it up. But he knows that snort. 

"But-but I want to go with you." Li says for the first time quietly. Wow Sokka's dumb.

"Bud, did you plant your lunchbox under your secret spot so you could stay?" he asks gently, walking towards Zuko who looks like he's about to give out with the weight on his children on him. Both literally and metaphorically. He hears a sniff. 

"Maybe." Li says meekly

"Son, you didn't have to do that."

"But I miss you. I see Papa all the time. I don't see you as much." Li sounds like he's on the verge of tears and Sokka might join him. Sokka takes a quick look at Zuko. He's looking at the ground. Go figure.

"I miss you too. I miss you and your sister the second you guys leave." Sokka says earnestly. "I promise I'll get to see you more going forward. I'll be at the game on Saturday, okay? And we can hang out afterwards. Me, you and Izumi."

"Can Papa come?" Izumi asks over Zuko's shoulder. 

"I-I don't know. If Papa wants to." Sokka says, looking at Zuko and for the first time, Zuko's amber eyes meet Sokka's blue ones for more than a second. His eyes look heavy, tired. He really needs to cut this short. 

"Li, if you go back in the car with Papa while I get your lunchbox, I'll be sure to get you ice cream after the game." Sokka bargains. Apparently ice cream is the key to Li obeying any order because he screams for Zuko to take him back to the car. Zuko puts both of their children in their carseats, making sure the seatbelts are secure this time. 

When Sokka hands Li his lunchbox from the window of Zuko's car, he takes one last look at Zuko before Zuko hits the gas. 

It never gets any easier. 

Sokka's surprised, hours later, to get a third call from Zuko today. He's in bed at this point, glasses on, reading through the horrendous lesson plan for next week. when the phone blares.

"This is the most you've called me in a day since we were married." Sokka starts. Surprisingly he hears a huff of laughter from the other end. 

"Yeah-uh-yeah I'm sure." Awkwardly painful silence ensues yet again. 

"Are the kids okay?" Sokka finally asks.

"Oh-yeah they're fine. Izumi's usually fine with most things. She was just wondering if you and Li were okay. Li...was a bit harder to calm down. It took him a while to come out his room."

"He seemed really upset earlier."

"He was-listen Sokka...I'm really sorry. For not telling you about his game."

"It's-"

"You know it's not okay so don't say it." Zuko's raspy voice cuts in. This is the most emotion he's gotten out of him in years. "I know I'm not the best talker-I used to leave that to you-but I shouldn't have cut you out like that. I can't just-the kids need you. " 

"I need them in my life." 

"I didn't realize how much of an asshole I was being. I-I feel a lot like my dad right now. I can't-I can't believe I was hurting my kids like that." Zuko's voice sounds wet and Sokka's heart breaks just a little at the sound. 

"Zuko...you are nothing like your dad. You're so good to our kids. They love you more than you realize."

"It didn't sound like it earlier. Li couldn't wait to get away from me."

"Zuko, you know that's not true. Li thinks you're so wonderful and brilliant. He just sees me once a week. If that. He needs his other dad around as well. That's all." 

He hears Zuko heave on the other end of the line. 

"Zuko-Zuko breathe. Breathe with me." His words are drowned out by Zuko's hiccuped crying. "C'mon Zuko, you know-you know the kids love you. Izumi never stops talking about you." This is not helping the way Sokka thinks because Zuko lets out another heave on the end of the line. 

"Okay Zuko," he starts "stay with me. You remember when Li took his first steps?" he can practically hear him nod on the other end. "You literally set up your phone to record and it dropped from the table the second Li started waddling towards you." He can hear Zuko let out a wet laugh. 

"Yeah. I was so upset over that."

"I was upset that he didn't walk towards me. He got back in his crawling state to move towards me." Sokka says. Another laugh from Zuko. 

"He knew which parent to prioritize." 

"Like the time we took him to the pool and he wanted to swim with you even though you can't swim?"

"He felt that he could." Zuko is bringing his point home perfectly. 

"Because he feels safe with you Zuko. He always has. He'll never not feel safe around you. You're his world." There's a pause but this time, it's not awkward. The first time in three years with comfortable silence.

"You're his world too."

"Well yeah. We're both his parents. Of course we'd both be his world." Sokka sighs. "Zuko-I don't know where our relationship stands, but I want us to be better...if not for us, then for them. I know we've said a lot of things, things that we can't and wish we could take back-but I want to be there for them." 

"I want us to be better too. I hate that we've gone so long like this-that _I've_ gone so long like this." 

"It's okay. It's water under the bridge. Honestly. See you at the game on Saturday."

"See you there." Zuko says before cutting the line. 

_It's a start_ Sokka thinks, putting his lesson plan down and cutting off the lights. It's definitely a start. 

**Author's Note:**

> first chapter's out in the world...tell me what yall think :)!! this has been something i've been working on for a while. tumblr: appadripdrip


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